Shanghai: Thailand’s Porani Chutichai shot an even-par 72 today at the Orient Masters Shanghai to grab a share of the first-round lead with China’s Yang Taoli in the US$50,000 tournament.

Chinese Taipei’s Lu Guanzhi was one off the pace at Orient Golf and Sports Club Shanghai following a 73, while Chinese mainlanders Shang Linyan, Wang Chun and Zhang Jing and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum each shot 74 in the third leg of the four-event Orient Masters Tour.

Tiranan Yoopan was the only other Thai in contention among the 58-player field after opening with a 76.

Porani, who won the opening leg in Beijing in June, called her round in the extremely hot and windy conditions “so-so.” After making the turn at even par, twice during her back nine she followed birdies with bogeys to fall out of the outright lead.

“Today I am not happy with my play but it is okay,” said the 21-year-old from Chiang Rai. “I got angry with myself a little bit because the shots that I dropped for bogeys on 14 and 16 were easy. On the long par-four 14th I three-putted. On 16 I was on the fringe of the green in two and then over-chipped the hole.”

“The wind and the rough are the big factors here. The rough is especially long and it makes it difficult to find the ball even with four caddies looking. It was the same for every group. The water is not a problem here more so the wind. If you don’t hit the ball far enough the wind can carry it into the rough.”

Pornanong, who has posted two fourth place finishes in the first two legs, had a chance to grab a share of the lead until registering a double bogey six on the par-four 17th after some aggressive play.

“It all came from a poor approach shot. I overshot the green and then chipped it past the hole resulting in a two putt for a double bogey,” said the 17-year-old who won on the All Thailand tour last week at Nongkai.

“My driving was okay today but my chipping was poor. I am going to go to the driving range today and practice my short game. Tomorrow I am going to stick to my strategy of keeping the ball on the fairway.

“The course was pretty tough. If you could keep it out of the rough it was okay but if not it was easy to find trouble and very hard to recover.”

The Orient Masters Shanghai is a China Golf Association-sanctioned event.

Orient Golf and Sports Club Shanghai is a par-72, 6,505 yard layout designed by T.K. Pen in Shanghai’s southwestern Songjiang District.

Orient Masters Shanghai first round leading scores

72: Yang Taoli (CHN) 37-35, Porani Chutichai (THA) 36-36

73: Lu Guanzhi (TPE) 36-37

74: Shang Linyan (CHN) 36-38, Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 36-38, Wang Chun (CHN) 36-38, Zhang Jing (CHN) 36-38

75: Zhou Xiaoxuan (CHN) (A) 37-38, Shen Yanhua (CHN) 38-37

76: Tiranan Yoopan (THA) 39-37, Hu Ling (CHN) 36-40, Zhang Lichun (CHN) 38-38, Yan Panpan (CHN) 38-38

77: Yu Peilin (TPE) 37-40, Li Jiayun (CHN) 38-39, Yang Hongmei (CHN) 41-36